National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations says the woman known as “Buffalo Woman,” who was the fourth victim of a Winnipeg serial killer, has been identified as Ashlee Shingoose from St. Theresa Point First Nation.
According to Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, she has offered condolences to Shingoose’s parents, who are devastated by the news.
Police plan to officially confirm the woman’s identity at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Shingoose was last seen in March 2022 outside of a Winnipeg homeless shelter.
Court heard she met Jeremy Skibicki around that time, and he brought her to his apartment.
Evidence presented at trial indicated Skibicki killed her shortly after, although her body has not been found.
Skibicki was convicted last year of first-degree murder in the deaths of four indigenous women.
For months, investigators struggled to identify “Buffalo Woman,” revealing only that her DNA was detected on a cuff of her jacket.
Hoping for leads, Winnipeg Police Service released photos of the jacket, but few other details were made public.
A group of indigenous grandmothers named her Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or “Buffalo Woman,” to honour her memory.
Earlier this year, the remains of two other victims, Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, were found in a landfill near Winnipeg.
The body of Rebecca Contois had been found previously in a different landfill.